willweaverrva's Week 18 Ballot
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auburn | Auburn, Duke, and Houston keep trading spaces at the top of KenPom, Torvik, and the NET. Auburn had the best quality wins this week, so they stay at #1. 16-2 in Q1 is not too shabby either. |
| 2 | Duke | Auburn may be the best, but Duke is definitely the most balanced. #2 offense and #4 defense per KenPom, and they are WAY more than just Cooper Flagg. |
| 3 | Houston | After stumbling early in the season, Houston has found its stride and cranks out good win after good win, including a tough road win over Texas Tech. |
| 4 | St. John's | St. John's is playing like a team that could do some serious damage in the NCAA tournament. The Johnnies are paragons of defensive efficiency, and their four losses were all one-possession games. |
| 5 | Tennessee | I wasn't sure about having Tennessee this high - they did barely squeak by Alabama. However, they benefit from Florida losing and move up. |
| 6 | Florida | I had Florida as a potential sleeper Final Four contender, but after the loss to Georgia in which they trailed for most of the game, I'm not so sure, and they go to Alabama this week. |
| 7 | Michigan State | Michigan State is the best team in the Big Ten and it's not even close. |
| 8 | Alabama | Alabama loses a tough road game to Tennessee and has become really inconsistent as of late. Even worse, they play Florida and Auburn this week. |
| 9 | Clemson | Duke, Clemson, and Louisville are the class of the ACC, and Clemson continues to stomp most of its opponents. They have a couple of easier games this week so they seem to be in a good spot. |
| 10 | Texas Tech | The Red Raiders move up despite a 1-1 week. To be honest, it was difficult to figure out exactly where to put them... |
| 11 | Wisconsin | Wisconsin went 1-1 with a blowout over Washington, followed by a tough road loss to Michigan State (the class of the Big Ten). I'm not going to penalize them for that loss. |
| 12 | Marquette | Shaka Smart seems to have righted the ship at Marquette, recovering from a tough road loss at Villanova with two good wins. This week could be make or break for Marquette, though. |
| 13 | Iowa State | Iowa State seems to have stopped the bleeding after an impressive win over Arizona (despite Arizona's metrics being overinflated). BYU comes to town tomorrow, though, and that will NOT be easy. |
| 14 | Louisville | Louisville being up here is a testament to Pat Kelsey's coaching talent. Last year, Louisville was the laughingstock of D1 basketball. This year, they're second only to Duke in the ACC. |
| 15 | Maryland | The Terps lose a heartbreaker to the single best team in the Big Ten, then took out their frustrations on Mike Rhoades in Happy Valley, making his seat even hotter. |
| 16 | Missouri | Mizzou is a scoring machine, scoring 92 or more points in their last 4 games. Problem is, they're 2-2 in those games. |
| 17 | Texas A&M | Texas A&M is in freefall. Four straight losses, and they have Auburn coming to town. The Buzz is a lot less palpable right now and .500 in Big 12 play is a real possibility. |
| 18 | Saint Mary's | Saint Mary's ALMOST got upset by Loyola Marymount, which would have been a disaster. Instead, they close out WCC regular season play with two wins. |
| 19 | Michigan | What happened, Dusty May? Michigan was looking pretty good for a while despite that loss to Michigan State. Then they only put up 49 against Nebraska, then get clobbered by 20 at home. |
| 20 | Kentucky | Kentucky is heading the wrong direction at the worst time. 3-3 in their last six games. Yeah, two of those were to Alabama and Auburn, but it's pretty hard to justify ranking a 10-loss team very high. |
| 21 | Purdue | Purdue seems to have leveled out after taking a nosedive in the past couple of weeks with a solid win over UCLA where they definitely played much better. Illinois will be tough though. |
| 22 | VCU | Call me a homer all you want, but VCU deserves to be here. 28 in KP, 29 NET, 26 Torvik, with strong covers in practically every game since February 1st. The Rams are a dangerous team. |
| 23 | BYU | New this week. BYU has turned a corner and is getting hot at the right time. They looked very impressive against West Virginia and look poised to win some games in the NCAA tournament. |
| 24 | Drake | New this week. Drake only has 3 losses. At this point in the season, just like UCSD, I just can't ignore that. The MVC may not be a terribly strong conference but Drake closed out the season strong. |
| 25 | UC San Diego | New this week. This late in the season I can't ignore a team with only 4 losses, and the Tritons have absolutely dominated the Big West. Don't be shocked if they upset someone in the NCAA tournament. |
Overall Rationale
DROPPED FROM BALLOT: Creighton (18), Utah State (21), Mississippi State (25). NEW TO BALLOT: BYU, Drake, UC San Diego. ALMOST FAMOUS: 26. Vanderbilt, 27. Mississippi State, 28. Ole Miss, 29. Gonzaga, 30. Memphis.